BJD Vendor Declarations

Note Number: AG0936 Published: December 2005 Updated: November 2010

Bovine Johne's disease (bjd) Vendor Declarations provide valuable information to potential stock purchasers. They can assist purchasers to assess the level of assurance or risk of bjd that the cattle being offered for sale pose.

National Vendor Declarations have been an essential part of the livestock selling process since 1994. They disclose information about the history and quality of the stock to the buyer. Likewise a bjd Vendor Declaration provides information about the level of assurance or bjd status of the herd of origin
of the cattle being offered for sale.

Options for Vendor Declarations for Beef or Dairy cattle

There are three different declaration forms which may be used to disclose the bjd status or level of assurance of a herd, depending on whether the stock are beef, dairy or a cross and testing history.

Dairy cattle – The National Dairy bjd Assurance Score measured on a scale of 0 to 10 points, rates the risk of bjd for dairy cattle. The 'Score' can either be 'declared' using the National bjd Assurance Score Declaration form or calculated and written in Section 9 (other
information) on a National Vendor Declaration form. For further details on the National bjd Dairy Assurance Score, refer to the Agriculture Information Note AG1187 - National bjd Dairy Assurance Sore, the higher the score the higher the assurance.

Beef Cattle – National Animal Health Statement for Johne's disease Status of Beef Cattle. This declaration form is designed for beef cattle herds, especially those declaring a Beef Only or CattleMAP status. For further information of Beef Only,
refer to the Agriculture Information Note AG1170 – Beef Only; a new way of trading beef cattle in South Eastern Australia.

A non-specific basic bjd Vendor Declaration form suitable for either beef cattle, dairy-beef cross (F1) cattle and CattleMAP herds. This declaration forms allows the vendor to state the bjd status of the sale cattle and indicate the bjd zone of origin of the stock, (refer to Agriculture Note: Zoning for Bovine Johne's disease),
and the testing history (if any) of the sale cattle and/or herd of origin.

Prospective cattle purchases should always enquire as to the disease status of any cattle they are considering purchasing and request a copy of any Vendor Declarations from the vendor or their selling agent. Bjd vendor declarations are a quality assurance measure. Do not be afraid to ask for a vendor
declaration when purchasing cattle.

Vendor declarations are a legal document, and making a false or misleading statement about the disease status of cattle being sold can result in legal action.

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